Rice Creek Field Station brought together the Climate Academic Steering Committee, or CASC, and environmentally minded members of the campus community for a town hall meeting in February. Taking a cue from the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment signed by President Deborah F. Stanley in 2007, students and faculty alike discussed how they could take part in making SUNY Oswego a little greener.

CASC is targeting sustainability in terms of energy use and how this topic is discussed in the college curriculum.  The town hall meeting was an opportunity to find out what students are doing to improve the campus community and voice their concerns.

"We found out that student groups had already started programs of their own on campus," Dara Sanoubane of Experience-Based Education said.

Among the student groups that attended the meeting were Students for Global Change and Composting on Campus. These groups presented their efforts for lessening SUNY Oswego's impact on the environment. At the end of the town hall meeting those in attendance split up into groups for brainstorming sessions and to discuss related issues in the campus community.

Composting on Campus has been making efforts to develop a means of composting the food scraps and other biodegradable material from the campus's five dining halls. The compost created by this program could be sold or used to develop a second community garden in addition to the one at Fallbrook. A small-scale composting program used for the surrounding gardens is already in place at Rice Creek Field Station.

Katherine Raymond '11 is exploring the idea of installing motion sensors in the residence hall bathrooms. Currently, Raymond said, the lights are on in the restrooms 24 hours a day, for safety purposes. Raymond hopes that with the introduction of motion sensors the campus will save energy while keeping safety in mind.  Motion sensors are currently in use in the new Campus Center.

Nick Malchoff '09 described the town hall meeting as a "realization of simple ideas that people can do to create a better campus."  Continuing.

Another larger town hall discussion is slated for March 26 and a poster exhibit titled "Visions of Green" will be on display March in the Campus Center as part of the college's sustainability effort.

-- Arlee J. Logan '09

PHOTO CAPTION:
Students, faculty and others gathered for a town hall-style discussion about environmental efforts on campus. Another discussion is planned for March 26.

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